Above: Stephanie Kazior, dressed in her U.S. Marine Corps uniform, attends a military ball with wife Jill Ahlbrecht.
By Taylor Dean
This Veterans Day, Stephanie Kazior will probably be at her favorite place. Whether it’s practicing, coaching or running the Great Falls FSC as president, the 2023 championship adult silver women’s bronze medalist is always on the ice.
Away from the rink, Kazior is a police officer in Great Falls, Montana. Balancing her busy full-time job with all her skating activities sounds tough, but Kazior enjoys every aspect of her day to day. She credits her knack for structure to the United States Marine Corps, with which she served four years as a corrections specialist.
Kazior never expected to join the military — she always dreamed of being a police officer. But when the station she wanted to work at wasn’t hiring, the DuPage County, Illinois, native looked at another option.
“I had gone to school and obtained my bachelor’s in interdisciplinary studies with a minor in physical education,” she said. “During that time, the police department I wanted to be on was not hiring. All my friends were cops, and they were like, ‘just go into the military; go into the Marine Corps.’ So after graduating, I became a Marine, then went on to become a police officer.”
Kazior received her degree from Northeastern Illinois University, then was whisked away to Camp Pendleton in Southern California for the next four years. When Kazior enlisted, she was four years older than her peers, many of whom joined at 18.
“A lot of the individuals had just graduated high school and had never been out there on their own,” she said. “And then there’s me who lived on my own, went to college and had a little bit of adulting under my belt. So I helped a lot of my counterparts in different areas of life, and they also taught me how to have fun and make the best out of some of the worst situations we were in together.
“When you’re in something with other people and you’re going through the same thing, it’s comforting being with those individuals.”
A true servicewoman, Kazior also took an active role with Toys for Tots during her time with the Marines as an events coordinator for a local chapter back in DuPage County. While she did most of the work remotely while serving in California, she’d save up her vacation time and go home for the month of December, attending the events she helped orchestrate.
Back at Camp Pendleton, she volunteered her time restoring historic military vehicles at the Mechanized Museum when she wasn’t working at the brig (military jail).
“During a mess night [informal dining event], I got to drive and set up a bunch of different vehicles from island hopping campaigns, Desert Storm and different times of war. I got to set them up for the Marines in my unit to see them.”
Even though Kazior enjoyed her time in service, there were opportunities in the civilian world she was ready to pursue. A career as a police officer was still calling to her, and she missed coaching on the ice. She was also ready to settle down, buy a house and start a family — something that can be difficult moving every few years with the military. With her plan in mind, Kazior packed her car to the brim and drove to Montana.
“I exited the Marine Corps on April 1, and I swore in with the police department on April 4. I started the police academy on April 7,” Kazior said. “Some people get out and they kind of hang out at home and figure out life for three to six months after they get out. For me, it was one job right to the next. It was actually a very smooth transition.”
Today, the structure and management skills she learned in the Marine Corps help her in work, life and skating. As the Great Falls FSC president and rink’s Learn to Skate USA® director, those skills help her delegate and lead, which in turn helped her shape the club into the success it’s become today.
In her own time on the ice, Kazior is pursuing her solo silver dance test, gold free dance test and her first figures test.
“The ice is my happy place,” Kazior said. “What I try to instill in my teaching is that this is the one place where you can be where you don't have to worry about money or family problems or bullying at school. It’s a place where you get to be free. Where you have to worry about where your arms are in relation to a circle or what edge you’re on, and you don’t have time to even think about what else is going on in the periphery of life.”
As Veterans Day comes around, Kazior reminds us it’s a day to express gratitude to those around us who served.
“Veterans Day is a day we show gratitude toward those who served,” she said. “Home of the free because of the brave. I think just a simple handshake and the words thank you mean a lot and go a long way.”
